0000000000453926
AUTHOR
Anna Lena Emrich
Short- and long-term outcomes for the surgical treatment of acute pulmonary embolism
AbstractObjectivesAcute pulmonary embolism can be a life-threatening condition with a high mortality. The treatment choice is a matter of debate. The early and late outcomes of patients treated with surgical pulmonary embolectomy for acute pulmonary embolism in a single center were analyzed.MethodsAll consecutive patients operated on for pulmonary embolism between January 2002 and March 2017 were reviewed. Patient demographics and pre- and postoperative clinical data were retrieved from our patient registry, and risk factors for in-hospital and long-term mortality were identified.ResultsIn total, 175 patients (mean age 59±3 years, 50% male) were operated on for acute pulmonary embolism. In-…
Multidetector Computed Tomography Angiography (MD-CTA) of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts – Update 2017
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is still an important therapeutic approach in the treatment especially of advanced coronary artery disease. In this study, we elucidate the current role of multidetector computed tomography angiography (MD-CTA) in imaging patients after CABG surgery.This study is based on recent reports in the literature (2007 - 2016) on imaging of CABG using 64-slice MD-CT scanners and beyond. We included 13 reports that compared ECG-gated MD-CTA with conventional invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as the reference standard for the assessment of graft patency and for the detection of 50 % stenoses. These studies had to provide absolute values for true-positive, true-…
Right/Left Ventricular Blood Pool T2 Ratio as an Innovative Cardiac MRI Screening Tool for the Identification of Left‐to‐Right Shunts in Patients With Right Ventricular Disease
Background Left-to-right (L-R) shunts are characterized by a pathological connection between high- and low-pressure systems, leading to a mixing of oxygen-rich blood with low oxygenated blood. They are typically diagnosed by phase-contrast cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which requires extensive planning. T2 is sensitive to blood oxygenation and may be able to detect oxygenation differences between the left (LV) and right ventricles (RV) caused by L-R shunts. Purpose To test the feasibility of routine T2 mapping to detect L-R shunts. Study type Retrospective. Population Patients with known L-R shunts (N = 27), patients with RV disease without L-R shunts (N = 21), and healthy volunt…
Septic cardiomyopathy: evidence for a reduced force-generating capacity of human atrial myocardium in acute infective endocarditis
AbstractBackground:This study analyzes the myocardial force-generating capacity in infective endocarditis (IE) using an experimental model of isolated human atrial myocardium. In vivo, it is difficult to decide whether or not alterations in myocardial contractile behavior are due to secondary effects associated with infection such as an altered heart rate, alterations of preload and afterload resulting from valvular defects, and altered humoral processes. Our in vitro model using isolated human myocardium, in contrast, guarantees exactly defined experimental conditions with respect to preload, afterload, and contraction frequency, thus not only preventing confounding by in vivo determinants…